So, I guess today was the start of the tour proper, but we did get off to a flying start with yesterday’s extra excursion!
Charlie turned up bang on time (9am) and we headed off for Shanghai Central - again! Naturally, we spent a long time on the coach, but we just accepted that as part of the deal - cheap tour, a long way out of town - too bad! That said, the hotel is fantastic and definitely 4-5 star, so we’ll take that!
Our first stop was at The Bund, where Charlie wanted to show off the architecture, particularly of the colonial era, by...

Last night, while driving to the hotel, Charlie suggested that he could organise an optional half day city tour for today, as the hotel is quite a long way out of the city and with little of interest around it. Most of our group of 16 were interested so, after a lazy morning around the hotel, a dozen of us joined Charlie and set out for Shanghai CBD.
The ride into town took an hour and our first stop was at the Jade Buddha temple. This Buddha, along with a smaller one, was brought back to Shanghai from Burma by a local monk and a temple has...

Odyssey to China Day 1.
After a long, 14 month wait - not to mention a few scares over the last couple of weeks - we are on the way!
Sydney gave us a very chilly farewell. As we stood on the platform, waiting for our train to the airport in a bracing 7 degrees C, we contemplated the journey we have experienced so far, and we haven’t even left the country! We have had a real mixture of excitement, anticipation, fear of loss (and sadness for those that did lose their trips), as well as a sense of gratitude that things have seemingly worked...

After waiting more than 14 months and dodging some scares about the conduct of our tour, we are finally in China! Our flight arrived in Shanghai around 30 minutes early, which gave us hope of getting to the hotel at a reasonable time - unfortunately, no such luck on that score!
After failing at the immigration fingerprint machine - it doesn’t like missing digits! - Ray had to receive some personal attention from the Border Security Officer. He was a bit nonplussed, too, but at least he could apply a bit of flexibility - AI biometrics is not...

We are anchored on the Yangtze River, right in the midst of at least 100 neon/LED light skyscrapers. All types of shapes from twisting monoliths to oval/egg organic domes. The weather is also quite different than the 95 we had in Manila. Shanghai is a damp 45 with a high of 51. Its not been this cold since Jan 5 in LA. Time to dig out our sweaters we had put away under the bed.
It’s a long walk through the cruise terminal to immigration. Everyone has to go ashore and get their passport stamped along with a copy of our passport we need to...

History: Shanghai began as a tiny fishing village 5,000 years ago. Today it is the largest city in China and one of the worlds most important ports.
Beautiful clean city with great sky scape. No homeless no litter and they scrub their sidewalks. Shopping was great and a very fun place to visit.

The Shanghai skyline is spectacular, with the classical buildings along the riverside known as the Bund, and the spectacular modern towers across the way in Pudong.
So much to see and do in this most cosmopolitan of China’s cities.
This post is for the fashion followers, or brides-to-be (perhaps?). Anyway, the traditional Chinese celebratory colour of red makes for standout pictures along the Garden Bridge and Bund "boardwalk". You will see some brides wearing "Western White" too. In Shanghai, weddings do not typically have an after-dinner...

September 20th - Flew first class from ORD to PVG. Karah ordered 4 different glasses of wine for lunch, we also wore airplane pajamas. We arrived in the afternoon and Karah forgot her debit PIN. Went to Xintiandi and had xiaolongbao and spring rolls. Went to the Bund at night and then had dinner at Grandmother's restaurant.
September 21st -

We arrived in Shanghai to find that the hotel I had chosen was not merely the perfect walkable location, (just across the famous garden bridge from the heart of Shanghai, The Bund), it was a vintage delight akin to the Chateau Lake Louise, or the Banff Springs Hotel. The Astor House Hotel has a very storied history and in the basement there’s a “museum” featuring the many milestones it has hosted – treaties signed, first electric lights in Shanghai, celebrity guests. I have no hesitation in encouraging others to stay at the Astor House....

The last day in Shanghai started with a leisurely breakfast and saying goodbye to members of our tour group who had earlier flights than three of us. At noon we headed out of the hotel with Ted, our UCLA study group leader, who lived in Shanghai many years ago. He first developed an interest in Chinese culture and language when his father was a Pan Am pilot and the family lived in Hong Kong. We took a bus part way across town and went into a "secret" garden that is owned by the city and has a tea house. There we enjoyed mugs of tea and...

We arrived in Shanghai very late the night of October 19 after a flight from Yiching. The next afternoon we spent time at the Shanghai Museum and did not have nearly enough time there. I was only able to go through the Jade Room and the Chinese Furniture Gallery. In the evening we had a reception on the 11th floor of the hotel with a view of the Bund. The views are incredible.

Following long queues and a quick train back to Shanghai we wanted to make the most of the short time we had here before leaving for Hong Kong.
We checked into a nice hotel in a residential neighbourhood and had a quick walk around the local area. There were a number of eateries but one in particular took our fancy as it sold a local snack which Adam used to eat when he lived in Beijing. This became breakfast for the next two days!
We decided to go to YuYuan gardens. They were beautiful and so was the surroundings with lots of little shops...